tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80624336842027116472016-06-25T11:38:00.441-07:00MISS BlogMISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-29497194939872161842012-12-06T22:22:00.000-08:002012-12-06T22:22:02.576-08:00Women's Will to ChangeIn chapter 8 of "The Will to Change" bell hooks explores how media portrays masculinity and the effect on our societies expectations of men. In summary she finds that media does not believe in an alternative to patriarchy. In most situations media perpetuates patriarchy with hyper violent male heroes. Hooks offers an analysis of the hulk as an example. Young boys when asked what they would do if they were the hulk said they would smash their mommies.<br /><br />This theme of rage is a focus of Ch. 9 in which hooks discusses the lie of the patriarchy. She quotes Barbara Deming: "I think the reason that men are so very violent is that they know deep in themselves, that they're acting a lie, and so they're furious. You can't be hapy living a lie, and so they're furious at being caught in the lie. But they dont know how to break out of it, so they just go further into it."<br /><br />She also criticizes women for their reactions to moments of vulnerability from our partners. If men turn to women to express emotions women are often unable to hear because it breaks with their ideas of the patriarchal masculinity, because women have bought into patriarchal masculinity. She says this of herself: "I did not want to hear the pain of my male partner because hearing it required that I surrender my investment in the patriarchal ideal of the male as protector of the wourded. If he was wounded, then how could he protect me?"<br />&nbsp; <br />However, women will benefit from accepting men as emotional beings. Hooks claims that the love women experience with patriarchal men is a lie because we cannot truly know men, all of men. MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-79807283438211923512012-12-03T08:24:00.005-08:002012-12-03T08:24:50.271-08:00MISS Monday December 3 2012 (Hannah, Denali, Jacqui, and Bri Husky Cheer 2010)<br /><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">While trying this new Los Angeles experience, I wanted to “find myself” while keeping my heart at home. The mission statement for the MISS Movement organization had lingered in the back of my head the entire time. How can I use what I’ve learned to apply it to what we are trying to accomplish? What is the most efficient way to project the mission without making it about me?&nbsp;</div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>I want to make the organization about&nbsp;</span><span class="s2">only</span><span class="s1">&nbsp;what we are fighting for. Not about me and not about my partner Hannah. However, the only way I can get people to start speaking is to share stories of my own. When I had begun writing my pieces to help the girls who go through what I have, I tried to balance a personal relationship with the audience while educating them.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>In high school, I only remember having a one-class period sexual education class. This absolutely stumps me because every adult brings up the bad statistics of our region and question&nbsp;<i>WHY?</i>&nbsp;This doesn’t make sense. No one talks about this. I hear teachers, board members, and parents bitch about having to find a way to make this all stop. Um..... what? It’s because of the lack of education. Education in general, not organized high school education.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>When I heard stories spreading around town and heard comments about the so-called slut I mentioned in What Is Sexual Coercion?, I was furious. The types of things that rolled out of these guys’ mouths and the jokes they made about rape, girls, and being “manly” made my blood boil. I have dealt with them from the inside looking out but have never heard their comments from the outside looking in. At one point I found myself at a party watching them physically make a joke about rape. The weird thing is that I’ve known this joke for&nbsp;<i>years&nbsp;</i>but laughed at it up until this exact moment.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Here’s where education rolls in. Let’s take a step back and look at the high school’s sports programs, how much effort is put into them, and the social norms of these teenagers. While in high school, I wanted to make my name recognized by something like my older brothers but we all know I couldn’t do it the way they did. I put all my effort into the cheer program working to make it turn around after being publicly embarrassed at my freshman year regionals in Barrow. KHS cheerleaders was the region’s joke and not even our own basketball teams supported us.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>My motivation was the wrestling program. They have already scored 10 regional banners and a couple state ones. They have almost an entire wall dedicated to their accomplishments and I had to be the gymnasium’s joke while I stood and stared at them every weekend all 4 years. I only remember missing one weekend for orthodontic appointments. For my last two years, I made it a point to not miss practice. The guy I dated in high school had done the same and received not only awards but&nbsp;<i>gifts&nbsp;</i>for doing what I had just done. Both years. He had his name placed on the statistics plate that hangs on the wall near the concession stands. The big “Welcome to Bush Brawl” sign hung where I had to get my concession stand tickets. I just couldn’t escape the fact that my hard work wasn’t acknowledged no matter where I went all high school.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>This is not to say these guys deserve respect and pride for these titles. I admire the hard work the wrestlers put themselves through and the dedication they put into the sport for their entire lives. However, I do not respect the way the sports programs are handled and judged.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>During my freshman year of college, I had emailed the cheer coach at the University of Idaho on my own and promised to work my hardest at making the team. She had emailed me back right away and told me I can begin going to practices for a while to learn how to be a flyer and how to do a back hand spring. These were the two main requirements for making the squad. I spent about a month committing to learning how to trust a guy throw me into the air and catch me by my ass. I worked on the strict techniques of how to do a cheer back hand spring (completely different from the wrestling back hand spring, by the way).&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>“You did an amazing job at the other parts, though! It’s too bad we can’t keep you for that.” the coach told me while I got cut. I called my mom and cried like a big baby. It was not that I was bad at being a cheerleader, I just hadn’t ever received the right education.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>All throughout high school, when I’d make comments about the wrestlers having more, the same comebacks would occur over and over. People compared their 12 year experience to my 4 year half-assed Husky Cheer experience.</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>The team had the passion but the school didn’t give the resources, the recognition, or the support. I had made my statements throughout the years but was never recognized. We needed a BA coach who didn’t take no for an answer to really get the ball rolling. One that&nbsp;<i>actually&nbsp;</i>believed in us. This led us to attending our first cheer competition that was not the regional tournament,&nbsp;<i>ever.&nbsp;</i>The first place trophy was laughed at because our category didn’t have any competitors. What mattered was that we got our judgment scores a month before the state tournament and finally had the right constructive criticism from the experts.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Cheerleading is far too often viewed completely wrong by the audience. We are supposed to be as perfect as we possibly can in order to win. Our success relies solely on what the judges want and expect while at the same time wow-ing the audience.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Without an expert choreographer and these judgement scores, of course we were never going to see any improvements. Without seeing what the other teams outside of our region have to offer,&nbsp;<i>of course&nbsp;</i>we were never going to see any improvements.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>At the state tournament, we had placed 2nd in our category behind the grand champions of 2010 and won the state academic award. This was our 4th academic award. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a regional cheer tournament since the tournament was in Unalaska. Funding wasn’t available. The scores weren’t posted on ASAA’s website so we have no idea if we had potentially won Husky Cheer’s first regional award.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>When asking about the possibility of banners getting hung up the answers were obviously no. The reasonings were lack of funding but when we offered to fundraise, they said that means we will have to go back and do that for every other sport, too. The following year, our Lady Huskies had strongly placed 2nd at the state tournament and their banner is currently in the gym while everyone’s parading the phrase First In Lady Husky history. Excuse me? Am I not a lady? Are Denali Whiting, Hannah Atkinson and Brianna Triplett not ladies, too? Did the four of us not work our asses off since Sophomore year to win these titles?</span><br /><span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">Let's compare these girls to the wrestlers that we all admired so well they fought against. Think about it. Where are they now? The smartest decision I've ever made was to leave for college without strings attached. If I were to do what my boyfriend wanted to do, I can say with pure confidence that I would not be here today. I would be cheering him on from the sidelines while he made me feel unworthy. I finally had the nerve to seek answers the day I got home last week. He wasn't even aware of how hurt I had been.<b><u>&nbsp;He did have the right morals to apologize and offer to help me, though</u></b>. What about the rest of them? You've read about them already. So many times.</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Are you still wondering why our region has a patriarchal problem? In high school, people want to fit in. To fit in, the girliest sport is an embarrassment to the town while the manliest sports are our pride and joy. The only difference is that our progress is kept behind the cafeteria doors and only our final product is displayed for the audience at the games. In any other sports, we watch the progress within each match or game so the success is a lot more obvious.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Let’s step back into MISS specifics. After writing What Is Sexual Coercion?, we received a comment making suggestions on our approach to the organization stating that in order to make it work, we also need to involve men. My approach with this piece was targeted towards the women I am trying to empower with my own open dialogue to create my identity while still educating them on what is right or what is wrong.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>I felt beat up after reading this. My message was completely mistranslated by a male and I was told my approach was completely wrong. I stepped back from getting too personal until I realized that I’m placing myself right in the position I’ve been fighting against. I let myself and my actions be controlled by how a guy felt about how I felt.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Rape is a huge problem in our region. But rape culture is even more dangerous. Rape culture is a culture in which sexual assault is normalized and accepted. Here though, not only is it accepted, there is a joke that was made up as a “wrestling move” where one guy gets on top of the other guy and physically rapes him. High school guys and girls are circled and laughing about it.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>I had just recently found out that this joke has made its way to the middle school. I found out that girls I don’t even recognize understood that rape is viewed as a joke to everyone.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Since I’ve graduated high school, the Husky Cheer team has won 2 regional and state championship titles. The underclassmen cheerleaders I remember as a senior have gone out and began cheering in college. Elizabeth Ferguson is currently a freshman cheerleader at the Minnesota State University Moorhead.</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>This is still not to say the wrestlers are doing an awesome job. I just believe that this new generation has a completely different set of social norms than they had while the wrestling team was fighting to reach the “decade of dominance.” By the way, tshirts were purchased and worn that year but if you look closely they didn't do the math right.&nbsp;</span><br /><span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">It is so very unknown to the parents, board members, and teachers.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>My opinion is that parents should not tell their children what sport they are supposed to be good at to keep the family reputation. This leads them to thinking that they are unworthy when they do not meet up to their expectations. My father had stopped bothering me about sports as soon as I began cheering because I didn’t have trouble believing in myself like I had with Volleyball, Basketball and Cross Country. All the sports I couldn’t find myself loving. I just had the right talent for them but hated these different perspectives. I didn’t put any effort into being serious.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Once the parents begin believing in their children and letting them prove themselves, they will see what their full potential&nbsp;<i>really&nbsp;</i>is.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>When I went around to tell people about my mom’s community christmas tree event, people began complaining about how it starts at the same time the wrestling finals were. This tree is to help the community heal about losing their loved ones and people are worried about seeing who wins the matches when we already know who it is. That’s fucked up.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>I have stopped caring about what people think about what I write if it is true. The truth is what we need to hear in order to really fight our social issues. There are far too many women in the region who are rape victims that believe they are alone in the battle of healing. When, in reality, we’re just unaware of who’s been hurt because they are too afraid to say who’s done the wrong thing.&nbsp;</span><br /><span class="s1"><br /></span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=476813392176&amp;set=vb.652422176&amp;type=3&amp;theater" target="_blank">Click here to watch a video of Hannah Denali Jacqui and Bri as senior cheerleaders 2010</a></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-48358321039518875562012-11-29T18:50:00.003-08:002012-11-29T18:50:37.134-08:00Partnership: How to Achieve Gender Equality with FeminismAs my book <i>The Will to Change</i> by bell hooks comes to a close the last couple chapters had me more than engaged, beginning with the concept and seventh chapter "Feminist Masculinity." Bell hooks answers the question: how can feminism relate to men. As hooks has been advocating throughout the book, patriarchy makes life and loving difficult for men: "Patriarchal masculinity teaches males to be pathologically narcissistic, infantile, and psychologically dependent for self determination on the privileges (however relative) that they receive from having been born male." In this chapter bell hooks takes it a step further by claiming feminism as an alternative to our patriarchal systems.<br /><br />"The core of feminist masculinity is a commitment to gender equality and mutuality as crucial to inter-being and partnership in the creating and sustaining of life. Such a commitment always privileges nonviolent action over violence, peace over war, life over death."<br /><br />Hooks argument contends that patriarchal masculinity is based in domination. She does not want to end masculinity, or replace it with femininity but instead calls for a transformation from masculinity centered on domination to masculinity centered on partnership. This emphasis on partnership echoes the values of equality and balance. As in the above quote hooks makes the argument that if we transform masculinity in our society, a focus on partnership, equality, and balance could end violence against women.<br /><br />More on the concept of partnership: "In a partnership model male identity, like its female counterpart would be centered around the notion of an essential goodness that is inherently relationally oriented."<br /><br />What got me so excited about this argument is that hooks talks about a feminism that does not exclude men. Feminism in my opinion is about equality. For hooks feminism does not exclude/dominate/control/change men; feminism can liberate men.<br />Gender relations do not have to be a power struggle. It can be a partnership. <br /><br />MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-68106547716516410522012-11-29T00:22:00.000-08:002012-11-29T00:22:29.948-08:00MISS Defines Feminism<style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">MISS has been building a dialogue this fall bringing up many issues that are affecting our friends, family, community, and society. Throughout our blog you may be seeing feminism or feminist discourse pop up. I thought it would be good to get some of MISS’ thoughts on feminism out and on the internet.</div>In sociology <b>Feminism is defined as a way of viewing society in which gender pervades all aspects.</b> I agree with this because I think in our society a majority of things are seen in the two categories of female and male. Feminism as a movement has been through many different phases. I will provide a brief history of feminism to my knowledge so you can see the evolution of thought that has happened and how the current paradigm of feminism came to be. <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Feminism is thought to have originated in the early 1900’s with Women’s Suffrage. This was the first instance of women joining together to demand rights that men had had for a long time. With women’s suffrage, women gained, most notably, the right to vote.&nbsp; </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Second wave Feminism happened later in the century when women wanted equal treatment in the workplace. More and more women were seeking careers and alternative lifestyles to the stay at home roles that had been the norm in the past but were not treated the same. In this movement women joined together on the sole basis of womanhood and did not acknowledge differences between women of different cultures. This wave was focused on equal treatment for women, was successful in gaining rights for women in the workplace, but excluded women of color. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Third wave feminism brought intersectionality to the movement, and is the most current ideology of the movement. Third wave feminism recognizes that gender pervades all aspects of social life but that women are not the only people oppressed, and that not all women are oppressed in the same way. It recognizes differences of culture and differences in the meaning of gender. Third wave feminism is a movement for equality for all people, and breaking down the ideas that society tries to confine us to (such as Tony Porter’s “man box”).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">MISS is a feminist movement in the way that we seek equality for all people. We are not focused on a feminist agenda, but we do use some third wave feminist dialogue to discuss issues affecting our people. Bell hooks, the author of “The Will to Change” being reviewed in Men for Miss is a famous third wave feminist, writing in a feminist perspective on the issues of race, gender, and education. I am currently studying indigenous feminism for a research paper and hope to post more about that in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I have been looking at the works of Andrea Smith, one of the more published indigenous feminists. Here is a quote from a piece by her talking about the real history of true feminism: </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><i><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">The feminist movement is generally periodized into the so-called first, second and third waves of feminism. In the United States, the first wave is characterized by the suffragette movement; the second wave is characterized by the formation of the National Organization for Women, abortion rights politics, and the fight for the Equal Rights Amendments. Suddenly, during the third wave of feminism, women of colour make an appearance to transform feminism into a multicultural movement.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><i><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">This periodization situates white middle-class women as the central historical agents to which women of colour attach themselves. However, if we were to recognize the agency of indigenous women in an account of feminist history, we might begin with 1492 when Native women collectively resisted colonization. This would allow us to see that there are multiple feminist histories emerging from multiple communities of colour which intersect at points and diverge in others. This would not negate the contributions made by white feminists, but would de-center them from our historicizing and analysis.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">If you are interested in feminism and how it relates to Native communities I’d suggest checking out the whole article that can be found here:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">http://unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/indigenous-feminism-without-apology/</span></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-11570312923136453642012-11-09T15:30:00.001-08:002012-11-09T15:30:03.974-08:00Hooks on the Worth of Men: The Ability to Love and be LovedThis weeks chapter "Work: What's Love Got to do With it?" really hit home, I feel in regards to challenges in rural Alaska. Bell hooks in her book <i>The Will to Change</i> addresses the relationship between patriarchy and capitalism.<br />Hooks claims that the patriarchy in our country has defined male success, male worthiness, as earning money. She defines the patriarchal message: "If a man stops working, he loses his reason for living." Citing Victor Seidler in <i>Rediscovering Masculinity</i>: "This is the only identity that can still prove our masculinity by showing we do not need anything from others."<br />Throughout reading this chapter I am brought back to the NANA Region. Our region is facing high rates of suicide, and young men are the most frequent victims. This statistic represents our challege, from an article in ADN published this summer: "Alaska Native males between the ages of 20 and 29 had the highest suicide rate, at 155.3 per 100,000 people."<br />The numbers are astounding, and in conversations with community leaders like Reggie Joule and Martha Whiting I have heard the sentiment that men no longer know purpose, or fulfillment in a transition from providing through subsistence hunting to earning pay checks. Reggie, as we chatted this summer said, our men need to find their purpose.<br />Bell hooks claims that men need to focus on their ability to love and be loved: "In actuality individual men are engaged&nbsp; in the work of emotional recovery every day, but the work is not easy because they have no support systems within the patriarchal culture." At the end of the chapter she calls on the Elders in our country provide guidance: "The elders who can speak to younger generations of men, debunking the patriarchal myth of work; those voices need to be heard. They are the voices that tell younger men, 'Don't wait until your life is near it's end to find your feeling, to folow your heart. Don't wait until it's too late."<br /><br />I am compelled by her argument. As men find their way in modern rural Alaska, what if they are allowed to love? What if they are celebrated for their ability to love? Can we rethink what it is to be a man, from ability to provide to ability to love and be loved? <br /><div style="color: black; font: 10pt sans-serif; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-transform: none; width: 1px;"><br />Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/07/30/2563810/native-suicide-rate-in-alaska.html#storylink=cpy</div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-89084134112676901302012-11-06T16:42:00.000-08:002012-11-06T16:42:18.196-08:00Are you for MISS? <br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Female advocates for true independence may refuse to take in their husband’s last name in order to continue branding their maiden name. They have plenty of respectable reasons for keeping their last name but I am personally influenced by the women who can take in a new last name and make it personal to herself.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">This summer, I had stepped into former NWAB Mayor Siikauraq’s office to speak to her about the MISS movement and ask for her advice. She told me the story about taking in her husband’s last name. Siikauraq is a part of the big, local Wilson family and had grown up making something of her name through sports and activities. After college, she got married to Alex and had one daughter, Denali. Together, they were the only three Whiting’s in Kotzebue.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Siikauraq told me about the first time she ran for borough mayor and how unknown her last name was to the region. She was advised to add her face to her campaign in order to be recognized with her new name. Through this process, she began to create a well-known last name for her daughter to now identify herself with.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">I am also deeply influenced by Siikauraq’s passion and drive for a brighter future in the NANA region. She gets involved and does as much as she can because she believes in it, but at the end of the day, too, it may not<i> really</i> be enough. It is not enough because there’s always a different direction to reach towards.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">MISS was founded by the passionate drive behind seeing something wrong and speaking up about it. It drives to make people more comfortable with being aware of the social ills so we can begin learning what we can do to fix the problem. It is a movement towards combating rape culture, a culture in which rape and abuse is normalized or accepted. The MISS movement should provide outlets to the victims in order to bring these women (or men) another step closer to healing.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Since the debut of MISS, I have already been a personal outlet for 5 victims. Three of them weren’t considered “close” friends but they admitted they felt more comfortable speaking to me because I have already spoken up about being against it. Just being against it. Two of them were opening up for their first time in almost 5 years to me. One of them I had known for my entire life and had no idea (at all!) that she was affected by it. Each of them admitted being able to tell someone who offered to just listen helped them more than they thought it really could.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">I don’t want MISS to be the only outlet. There is only so much that the two of us can do. I believe that there are a lot more people out there who believe in the same things I do and want the same change, too. It begins with admitting what you are fighting for. Speak out about being against rape culture through MISS by simply writing “I am for MISS.” on the Facebook page.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Writing this message on our public page will provide the victims an idea of who they can turn to. Sometimes, the only thing they need is someone who is willing to listen but they may not know who to begin with. If you are uncomfortable with publicly admitting it, please let your close friends or family know privately. Just in case.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">The first step to making a change is by speaking out. You have recently read about the difference Teressa Baldwin has made by simply telling her story with Hope4Alaska. Savanah Kramer has also done the same through No Make Up Mondays.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fluPGJ0F1uY/UJmuOykMNtI/AAAAAAAAAJU/2t7hPj7aMyg/s1600/PSA+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fluPGJ0F1uY/UJmuOykMNtI/AAAAAAAAAJU/2t7hPj7aMyg/s320/PSA+13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Are you for MISS?</b></span></div><ul><li class="li1"><span class="s1">Rape culture is a culture in which rape, sexual abuse, and domestic violence is normalized or accepted.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1"><span class="s1">This is not just a “women’s issue” and we must recognize that not all men commit the crime and not only women are the victims.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1"><span class="s1">The only step to improvement is if both sides work together. (Women AND Men)</span></li><li class="li1"><span class="s1">Supporters should not stay silent and are encouraged to reach out to peers.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1"><span class="s1">Violence is a choice. It should not be excused.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1"><span class="s1">We must raise awareness of the possible and simple supporters. Let the victims know there are more outlets they can speak to.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1"><span class="s1">Showing support is helping the victims in the healing process by allowing them to </span><span class="s2"><i>not </i></span><span class="s1">be silenced.&nbsp;</span></li></ul><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Write “I am for MISS.” on our Facebook wall.&nbsp;</b></span></div><div class="p1">www.facebook.com/MISS907<br /><br /><span style="color: magenta;"><b>-Jacqui Lambert</b></span></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-14294236037043139832012-11-01T23:27:00.002-07:002012-11-06T16:42:32.099-08:00Let's Talk About SexIn ch. 5 "Male Sexual Being" hooks discusses sex as integral to manhood. She proposes that our society builds expectations of men having sex: sex is something that men simply must have. I appreciate her analysis of what sex means in our society, and found her distinction of sex and love interesting. Hooks writes that love is more taboo in our society than sex. Men in a patriarchal society are more encouraged to have sex than to love. Hooks claims that men need to be loved, and seek satisfaction for this need through sex. They fail to find love in sex, creating frustrations, and in short, disconnects between society, sex, and love create sexual violence. I think that the answer to this problem is more talking about sex in society. I don't quite agree with hooks' claim that love is more taboo than sex, because I think that sex isn't discussed enough. Perhaps our society talks about sex, but it is more of a fetish, dramatized in media and glossed over in high school than a dialogue about what sex is, what sex means, what it doesn't mean.<br /><br />As a graduate of Kotzebue High School I can tell you that they did not talk to us about sex. In health class we talked about "the danger zone" which came after kissing and petting. I can tell you from experience as a high schooler at KHS, just because you don't say it out loud doesn't stop it from happening. Young adults are exploring sex whether their parents/teachers like it or not. Isn't it better to equip them with knowledge of how to have a safe and healthy sex life? Open discourse and education will lead to a better understanding of our values and allow young adults to make an informed decision about when and with who they will engage in sexual activity. <br /><br />-<span style="color: orange;"><b>-Hannah Atkinson</b></span>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-38620001317099006762012-10-29T13:14:00.001-07:002012-11-06T16:42:50.656-08:00The Privilege of RaceThere is only one Sunday left before our performance of the Race Monologues. I am getting nervous, but more excited than nervous. I think I have a lot to share and I am excited to have a venue to express myself. I didn't make it to the last meeting, and right now we are refining our final pieces to perform, so I want to keep it a secret, but I thought I'd give another prompt for all you MISS followers. <b>Write on what privileges your race gives you. </b><br /><br />I've been lucky enough to experience being white in two very different worlds. When I moved to Alaska at 13 I became the minority. In high school I was the only white girl on the cheer leading team for a while. Living in Kotzebue, this difference was never very important to me and I rarely noticed. At college I was given time to reflect on who I was in high school. I realized that my difference affected my experience a lot. There were a lot of moments of exclusion based on my whiteness. <br /><br />Even though I was a minority and faced exclusion based on that, I have come to the ultimate realization that being a minority in a small corner of Alaska did not erase my privilege in the world. Our country has a lot of power, and within our country who has that power? This country was created for Caucasians despite the fact that it already belonged to Native Americans. Through time as our population has expanded to include a large population of Latin Americans, African Americans, and Alaska Natives our country remains focused on Caucasians excluding other populations all together.<br /><br />Coming to the realization that I have this privilege that I did not earn, that sometimes I feel that I don't deserve, simply because of my race, was difficult for me to deal with. But I realized that what I do with my power is more important than how I got it. As a person of power in this country I will always fight for others who don't have as much, in order to make this a more inclusive country. In my mind, when life gives you opportunity it is your responsibility to pass it on.<br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>-Hannah Atkinson</b></span>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-3737319948821120082012-10-27T18:27:00.000-07:002012-11-06T16:43:04.614-08:00Is Stopping Male Violence Impossible?This week's chapter from bell hooks' "The Will to Change" was entitled "Stopping Male Violence." I wasn't expecting an answer but I also wasn't expecting to come away so disheartened. Hooks makes a clear distinction that male violence is not caused by individual men, but is instead a product of the patriarchy. In fact, she argues that women enact this patriarchal violence just as frequently as men. The violence that she is discussing is not driven by the individual. It cannot be attributed to anger. She argues that violence is used in the continuous power struggle that our society has created. One part of her argument that I found interesting and true to my life is the inclusion of emotional manipulation as violence. She discussed instances as in the relationship between a mother and her son, or in the relationship between a man and his girlfriend where emotions are withheld as being just as violent as physical abuse. <br /><br />Hooks directly links violence/power struggle to rape in the following example: "When researchers looking at date rape interviewed a range of college men and found that many of them saw nothing wrong with forcing a woman sexually, they were astounded Their findings seemed to challenge the previously accepted notion that raping was aberrant male behavior. While it may be unlikely that any of the men in this study would became rapists, it was evident that given what they conceived as the appropriate circumstance, they could see themselves being sexually violent." Reading this quote I thought back to chapter 2, "Understanding Patriarchy." For men, violence is sanctioned, even celebrated in the "appropriate" circumstance. As is evident in the above quote, our society has decided that sexual relationships are an "appropriate" circumstance. This needs to change.&nbsp; <br /><br />As I came to the end of the chapter I didn't feel very hopeful. Hooks does not offer step by step instructions for how to stop male violence because it is an issue of changing our society. However, bringing it back home, I am again brought to the culture inherent in the lifestyle of the NANA region. Our culture is a hybrid of American and Inupiaq values. How can the NANA region heal from within, pulling from traditional values to work towards stopping male violence?<br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>-Hannah Atkinson</b></span>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-42970249077528382042012-10-21T23:34:00.000-07:002012-11-06T16:43:16.598-08:00Hannah Gets MadThis Sunday I was asked to write about something that makes me mad. I had a hard time with this, I don't usually get very angry. I had to think back to the last few times in which I was really frustrated. <br /><br />Kotzebue, my home.<br />Kotzebue, which you spit on. You don't deserve to be here.<br />You have been here 8 weeks, 3 months, 9 years.<br />You have 3 birch bark baskets which you keep your car keys and extra change in. You have tried the local delicacy of muktuk once. You spit it out.<br />You comment on the children, how sad. They run ammock in the muck with no shoes. Where are there parents?<br />You condemn the streets littered with pepsi cans after snow melt "if people around here knew how to take care of this place."<br />You walk to work everyday with your synthetic fur ruff covering your eyes. Keep your head down, wouldn't want to damper your day with their poverty.<br />You will never be a part of this community which you judge through the window of your government housing.<br />What really grinds my gears, boils my blood, and gets me fired up: we are the same.<br />But I am different. <br />Kotzebue, my home. I will not let you spit on it.<br />You have been here 8 weeks. You refuse to open yourself to any part of this community.<br />There is bad here, but there is also good.<br />You wouldn't know. You can't judge what you haven't lived.<br />Pull yourself up by your boot straps bullshit<br />I will not let you talk about my best friends brother, my ex lover, or the guy who cheated off my tests in high school like losers. <br />You remain ignorant to your privilege. Ignorant to the systems built for you and forced on them.<br />You don't deserve to be here. You don't want to be here.<br />Go back to the lower 48, you aren't cut out for this. <br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>-Hannah Atkinson</b></span><br /><br />MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-20530030682038529102012-10-19T11:05:00.001-07:002012-11-06T16:43:45.597-08:00Being a BoyCh. 3 in "The Will to Change" is titled "Being a Boy." In this chapter bell hooks discusses the way that the patriarchy raises boys to become men: "Patriarchal culture influences parents to devalue the emotional development of boys. Naturally this disregard affects boy' capacity to love and be loving." She goes on to argue that&nbsp; we must build a culture that is accepting of male expressions of emotion.&nbsp; The argument does not wholly translate to the NANA Region because of cultural differences in raising children, but in a time when young men in rural Alaska are committing suicide at a higher rate than any other demographic, I think it is important to consider: what is being a boy like?<br /><br />I think that bell hooks argument rings true of our society as a whole. Tony Porter shares his personal experience of becoming frustrated with his crying five year old son: "As soon I would hear him crying, a clock would go off. I would give the boy probably about 30 seconds which means, by the time he got to me I was already saying things like 'why you crying, hold your head up, look at me, explain to me what's wrong... and out of my own frustration of my role and responsibility of building him up as a man to fit into these guidelines and these structures that are defined in this man box, I would find myself saying things like 'just go in your room! Sit down, get yourself together, and come out and talk to me when you can talk to me like a man.'"<br /><br />Our patriarchal society does not tolerate emotional expression from males starting at boyhood. Because men cannot freely express frustration and sadness through things like crying or talking about feelings this translates to anger and violence. This anger and violence is more socially acceptable than the frustration and sadness. <br /><br />Living in the NANA region I have been fortunate enough to see how a different culture raises children. In the Inupiaq culture, traditionally, parents raise their children with more love than discipline. Compared to western culture, children are much more free to do as they please. Bell hooks' argument may not ring as truthful in Kotzebue, because of this difference in culture, but I think that the societal pressures of what a man should be still start from a young age. Even if boys are not raised in a household in which they are disciplined for expressing emotion they are taught how to act through media and their peers. <br /><br />How does the Inupiaq culture raise boys? Is male emotional expression socially acceptable in traditional Inupiaq culture? Why or why not? Has western culture changed expectations of young men in our society? How do we want to be raising our boys?<br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>-Hannah Atkinson</b></span>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-66564004680943271092012-10-16T18:40:00.002-07:002012-10-16T18:40:38.439-07:00MISS Monday October 16 2012 (Teressa Baldwin)<br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Woman of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><u>Teressa Baldwin, Kotzebue&nbsp;</u></i></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-INvBEHRnoBM/UH4MbB27FrI/AAAAAAAAAI4/wa_JaOUYYHc/s1600/Teressa+Baldwin.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-INvBEHRnoBM/UH4MbB27FrI/AAAAAAAAAI4/wa_JaOUYYHc/s320/Teressa+Baldwin.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">In high school, Teressa Baldwin made herself a list of goals and one of them was to save 100 people from committing suicide. She did not sit back and wait for the opportunities to knock on her door. Instead, Baldwin started her own campaign, Hope4Alaska, and traveled across the state of Alaska to tell the story of how suicide has affected her. She gave a speech at the end of her senior year where she mentioned that she has reached out to the Congress, 24 senators, 6 governors, 4 states, over 6,000 Alaska teenagers, and even to President Obama himself.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Teressa Baldwin is the daughter of Sarah Randall of Ambler and Clyde Baldwin of Kiana. She grew up close to her step-father Peter Reich Sr. and his parents Herman and Della Reich. Baldwin grew up in Kotzebue and is a 4-year Mt. Edgecumbe High School alumnus. She is grateful for the experiences both places have given her; Kotzebue showed her the true cultural triumphs and hardships Rural Alaska faces today while MEHS acted as a bridge to different cultures and opportunities as well as providing an environment that helped her prepare for college.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Baldwin first got involved in Mt. Edgecumbe’s student council when she was a Sophomore. That year, she was appointed as the Secretary/Treasurer by the Alaska Association of Student Governments. These involvements led to Baldwin’s interest in giving back to Alaska and, more specifically, getting involved in suicide prevention. Along with her collaboration in student governments both locally and across the state, she participated in cheerleading for two years, served as the president of both the National Honor Society and LEADS, a community service group on campus. As a Junior, Baldwin was chosen by Governor Parnell to be the Youth Representative of the statewide suicide prevention council. She was a unique voice in this adult-based council and, with the help from them, she decided to begin Hope4Alaska.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Throughout her senior year, Baldwin traveled nearly every week to hold school assemblies where she told her story to students of all ages. Her speech described how suicide has affected her life, starting from the story of losing her uncle at the age of five to an ex-boyfriend committing suicide when she was sixteen. She would also tell of how these students can help with preventing suicide through simple acts of kindness. Being a strong advocate of community service, Baldwin also provided opportunities for the schools to volunteer through student councils and youth leader groups.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Throughout the process of her campaign, Baldwin received the Lu Young Leadership Award from the Alaska Federation of Natives, President Obama’s Champion of Changes Award (which was personally awarded by Obama himself!), Student Leader of the Year from Alaska Association of Student Governments, and the Alaska Marketplace Award which rewarded up to $25,000 to the efforts of Hope4Alaska. Baldwin is humbled by these awards and recognitions but admits that the morals and values she’s learned during the process have benefited her more. The lessons she’s learned and the relationships she’s formed through Hope4Alaska gave it its true worth.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Hope4Alaska is now in the hands of 3 teens from across Alaska as Baldwin attends her first year at the University of California, San Diego. Hope4Alaska has the goals of going national with the help from the Center for Native American Youth when she finishes school. Next month, she will be speaking on the issues of Indian Country at the Center for Native American Youth. She is also a new, proud sister of Chi-Omega, a sorority of 100 sisters who support her at UCSD. Baldwin currently works at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography where she is continuing her research on the acoustics of Bowhead whales. She holds interests in environmental systems, earth science, and sociology but has yet to determine what she would like to major in. One thing she is sure of, though, is her return back home when she is done with school.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">“I really believe that the best way to help out our community is to bring back what I have learned, whether it be an environmental aspect or a social aspect.” Baldwin said.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Baldwin mentions that she could not have gotten here without the support and inspiration many adults have provided for her. Baldwin says she is most influenced by her mother, Sarah Randall, who graduated college in 2011 while also working full time and raising a family. Baldwin is also motivated by Carol Waters, Rosie Ropell, Sonnie Anderson, Corey Butler, and Emily Sexton who provided her support throughout the year while working with Hope4Alaska. Mt. Edgecumbe High School made is possible for Baldwin to pursue her passion in suicide prevention while also making sure she graduated. Baldwin says Marie Greene and Martha Whiting helped her learn that she can be a strong Inupiaq woman who fought for her people.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">“I am not telling you these stories for you all to feel depressed. I am telling you these stories because it is time for all of us to know that it does happen. When you belong, you feel safe and accepted and you become yourself. Our current environment with rape, suicide, and abuse isn’t a safe environment. Someone at your school can’t be themselves because they don’t have a safe environment. Society tries to hide these things that happen every day.” Baldwin says in her closing speech for Hope4Alaska in spring 2012.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">“It has been proven that if you talk about an issue and make it known and spread awareness, the epidemic problem can be solved and lives can be saved.” She says later in the speech, “Alaska held the highest suicide rates in the nation for almost all our lives. Now, we are number two in the nation because of how many people have pulled together to make it an everyday awareness.”</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p3"><span class="s1">Remember, if there are any influential women of the Arctic you would like to nominate to be featured as the MISS Woman of the Week, you can e-mail us the name and a way of contact to <a href="mailto:missmovement907@gmail.com"><span class="s3">missmovement907@gmail.com</span></a> We would love to feature women from all over the region to celebrate their lifestyles and accomplishments.</span></div><div class="p4"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p5"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Quote of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p5"><span class="s2"><i>“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” -Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady of the US&nbsp;</i></span></div><div class="p5"><span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="p5"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Song of the Week&nbsp;</b></span></div><div class="p5"><span class="s2"><i>Unwritten- Natasha Bedingfield&nbsp;</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/b7k0a5hYnSI?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="p5"><span style="color: magenta;"><b><i>-Jacqui Lambert</i></b></span></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-72673210701165737992012-10-15T01:12:00.001-07:002012-10-15T13:38:47.009-07:00When People Look at me I Wish They Saw<b>This week I was instructed to do a free write, but it must begin with the phrase "when people look at me I wish they saw...."</b><br /><br /><br />I used to think: when people look at me I wish they saw a small pink wildflower<br />Aqpik means salmonberry<br />Nauyak means seagull<br />Pamiuqtak means fireweed.<br /><br />"Do you know everybody's Inupiaq name?" I asked Sigaurak in awe, as she picked her nieces and nephews and neighbors up one by one and called them by their Inupiaq name, their real name, their name rarely said. "I try to, and I try to call them by it. Do you have an Inupiaq name?" I shook my head and she continued to look into my eyes as she thought, I used to think, of the animal that I most closely resembled. "Allaitchaq," she said finally.<br />"What does it mean?!" I asked in wonder. Had she named me after an animal, a plant, or a bend in the river?<br />"It's just a name! Allaitchaq was the name of Hannah Gallahorn, the Reich's late grandmother. She was a wonderful woman, very active in establishing the education here in Kotzebue."<br /><br />I tried to hide my disappointment<br />Aqpik means salmonberry,<br />Nauyak means seagull,<br />Allaitchaq is just a name.<br /><br />The next time someone asked me if I had an Inupiaq name, I lied. At a basketball game, Argagiak and I began to talk about names. I asked him to give me one. He narrowed his eyes and the corners of his mouth turned down, after a while he said "Allaitchaq. After Hannah Gallahorn, one of the great elders, her portrait is in the cafeteria."<br />I didn't have to ask what it meant.&nbsp; <br /><br />It took me three years to find my utting. Last summer I tagged along one afternoon to camp with a friend. Climbing in his boat, I realized across the bow was my name, Hannah, after his ahna Hannah Gallahorn. On the beach across the sound I saw her old camp. Her grandson shared stories with me about being young at camp with Hannah.<br /><br />Later that night I walked down the beach to a neighboring camp to meet my friend, camping out with her cousins and making smores. The little girls were excited about something as I walked up. One girl emerged from the group and my friend said, "Hey Hannah, this is my friend Hannah, she's your ut." Hannah smiled shyly at me and gave me a hug.<br /><br />Aqpik means salmonberry<br />Nauyak means seagull<br />Allaitchaq connects me with a place through the wisdom and kindness that has come before me. It connects me with all the people who were touched by Hannah Gallahorn, and it connects me to generations in the future. It gives me something to honor.MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-81491185354371255302012-10-11T21:11:00.000-07:002012-10-11T21:35:43.645-07:00Gender Roles <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style>--&gt; <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men.html">http://www.ted.com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This video from Tony Porter's "man box" is directly inline with what bell hooks describes in her book as the patriarchy.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">In Ch. 2, “Understanding Patriarchy,” bell hooks elaborates on the concept of the patriarchy. She uses her personal experience, growing up in a traditional household to delineate how she and her brother were socialized differently, and how the roles that they were taught sometimes didn’t fit. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>“My brother and I remember our confusion about gender. In reality I was stronger and more violent than my brother, which we learned quickly was bad. And he was a gentle, peaceful boy, which we learned was really bad.” </i></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ll offer a summary of the societal pressures bell hooks experienced in her life, which she claims are a direct effect of the patriarchy. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>hooks</u></div><ul><li>weak</li><li>“free from the burden of thinking”</li><li>caretaker</li><li>nurture others</li><li>cannot be violent: violence for women is unnatural</li></ul><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Brother</u></div><ul><li>the bible teaches that men were created to rule the world</li><li>to be served and to provide</li><li>think, strategize, plan </li><li>violence can be appropriate </li><li>boys should not express feelings</li></ul><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think hooks brings up an interesting point when she describes the consequences of not abiding by their gender roles. Gender roles are defined by Blackwell sociological Encyclopedia as "attitudes regarding the appropriate <span style="background-color: white;">roles</span>, rights, and responsibilities of women and men in society." I do not claim that gender roles are bad, I personally think that they serve a purpose in our society. I do think that when society enforces these gender roles on all individuals across all cultures and across changing times that tensions are created. People are dynamic, and putting them in a box has consequences. In the case of the patriarchy or "man box" as described by Tony Parker, the consequence is violence against women, rape culture, and sexual assault.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">What are the gender roles enforced by society? What are the gender roles enforced by Inupiaq culture?&nbsp; How has the NANA region seen tensions or felt consequences of the strict gender roles enforced in changing times and on a diverse group of people?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />Here is a link to a spoken word piece about the pressure to "man up"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayzwzGB2kXw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayzwzGB2kXw</a><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-42320252819504728472012-10-08T14:20:00.001-07:002012-10-08T18:38:21.463-07:00MISS Monday October 8, 2012 (Kelsey Wallace)<br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Woman of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><u>Kelsey Wallace, Bethel</u></i></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1tra73vNi6U/UHNDO0uwKYI/AAAAAAAAAG8/_Qg2dva3sJk/s1600/tumblr_m9a6vbgVqo1qlf8pco1_1280.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1tra73vNi6U/UHNDO0uwKYI/AAAAAAAAAG8/_Qg2dva3sJk/s320/tumblr_m9a6vbgVqo1qlf8pco1_1280.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="p2">[photo from:&nbsp;http://missmovement.tumblr.com/post/32461836903/shmrumblr-uafairbanks-more-miss-weio]</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“Ciugutnguunga. Maairpak University of Alaska Fairbanks-aami elitetuunga taugaam Mamterillermiunguunga. Aanaka Cingarkaq Sheila Wallace-auguq aataka-llu Apassangayaq John Wallace-auluni. Kenkaqa Cungauyar Alfred Wallace-auguq.” Kelsey Wallace of Bethel, Alaska introduces herself in her Yup’ik language.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Wallace began learning how to use the Yup’ik language when she was a kindergartener at the Ayaprun Elitnaurvik, an immersion schooling program she attended through 6th grade. She went to high school at the Bethel Regional High School where she participated in events such as student government, drama club, cheerleading, volleyball, speech competitions, honor society, and BRHS’ first Yup’ik dance group in over ten years. Wallace is currently in her third year at the University of Alaska Fairbanks studying Rural Development with an emphasis on Community Development and a minor in Communications. She is involved in the Inu-Yupiaq dance group and works at the Alaska Native Language Center.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Wallace held leadership roles in the activities she participated in and has received multiple awards recognizing her hard work. She served as a class representative, advisory school board representative, secretary, cheerleading captain, volleyball captain, drama lead role, and dance group chair. The awards include: Internship in the Office of Senator Lisa Murkowski (2010), Two British Petroleum Principle and Commissioner Scholarships (2010), Member of the Alaska Native Education Panel for the Alaska Federation of Natives (2009-2010), Alaska Student Leader of the Year (2010), Academic Honor Roll (2007-2010), Alaska State Cheerleading Squad and All-State Individual Champion (2010), Alaska Regional All Tournament (2008), and 6 Speech Meet Champion Titles (2006-2008).</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Wallace’s hometown provided her a connection to the native culture through a school that offered both language and dance lessons. She attended Ayaprun Elitnaurvik for seven years and learned the vocabulary and structure to speak with her teachers, peers and family members. She has continued building fluency by taking courses at UAF.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“Although it is my second language, I still feel that it is an utmost importance to use my language whenever possible.” She explained. “Imagine in ten years when our elders are gone and we’re forced to re-learn our language without the guidance of fluent speakers! I can only imagine the difficulty students and community members will have in continuing the use of any indigenous language. We all need to step up, stop talking about how we need to start using our language, and actually start putting to use that motivation to continue these languages.”&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Wallace began dancing in kindergarten, too, through a class that lasted about an hour a day. It began as a task that was required through school but as she grew up, she really found herself as a person through recognizing dance as a part of who she is. In high school, she was a part of BRHS’ first native dance group in over 10 years and currently dances with the Inu-Yupiaq group in Fairbanks and Acilquq (meaning our roots) dance group in Anchorage.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“When I hear the drum, it’s like a spirit takes over me and I feel the beat of the drum and the beat of my heart drumming together in unicon. Everyone has that one thing that gives him or her a feeling of utmost happiness; Yup’ik dancing is my energizer” Wallace said.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Her family also plays a big role in defining her identity. Wallace’s dancing headdress is made of beads left behind by her grandma who passed away before she was born. Her grandfather taught respect and patience through unspoken words during visits at the retirement home where he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Her mom helps with building her language fluency by incorporating Yup’ik into her English sentences while speaking to her and her brother. It gives them a better understanding of their second language with the help of their first language. Wallace’s father was the teacher of the family on how to properly cut fish. He taught her mom when they got married and what surprises most people is that he is white but still participates in native cultural activities. Wallace was taught by her father the sense of motivation, the competition with herself rather than others, and to strive to reach her potential.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>These roots of Wallace are what inspires her the most today. The small community of Bethel and her close-knit family drive her to succeed at her full potential while encouraging her to push herself. Because of the impact of her strong family, she encourages parents and communities to always put effort into reminding the youth of dreaming big.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Wallace takes a piece of her culture wherever she goes and shares it with people. She teaches people her native language, how to make traditional foods, how to sing songs, shares traditional foods and it usually come as second-nature for her. She also shares by telling stories of growing up and telling about the environment.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Wallace is currently pursuing a degree in Rural Development with an emphasis on Community Development with a minor in Communications. She learned she was not interested in taking a communications direction after her experience as an intern for Calisto. The intern opportunity instead helped her realize she would like to be more involved in cultural awareness through development. Wallace believed the younger generations can be provided with healthy, successful lifestyles through education. She advises parents and communities to focus on giving the younger generations hope for the future through encouragement of reaching for something more.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“I cannot stress how important it is for our younger generations to remember that we need to look passed the statistics; look passed the peer pressure and use obstacles in life as a reminder and motivator in knowing that we CAN succeed! We can all achieve our goals and dreams.”&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Kelsey Wallace was nominated by co-founder of MISS, Hannah Atkinson. Wallace was one of her best friends in middle school during her first year in Alaska and she opened up to her and welcomed her to the native culture. Wallace took Atkinson to the heritage center to watch dancing.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“She was cool because she always wore her mukluks to school and basketball games. Her mukluks were probably the first pair I ever saw.” Atkinson explained.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p3"><b><span class="s3"> </span><span class="s1">Remember, if there are any influential women you would like to nominate to be featured as the MISS Woman of the Week, you can e-mail us the name and a way of contact to <a href="mailto:missmovement907@gmail.com"><span class="s4">missmovement907@gmail.com</span></a> We would love to feature women who are making a difference in Alaska to celebrate their lifestyles and accomplishments.</span><span class="s3">&nbsp;</span></b></div><div class="p3"><span class="s3"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/C-AwHZPb80k?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="p3"><span class="s3"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p4" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s3">&nbsp;</span><span class="s1">[Wallace was crowned as the 2011 Miss WEIO. She organized a culture camp located at Howard Luke’s camp and taught students how to tell stories using Yup’ik story knives. She got involved in gatherings around Alaska. She served as Master of Ceremonies for the Festival of Native Arts and Alaska Federation of Natives Quyana Alaska performances. She organized an akutaq making workshop. She participated in the AFN Elders and Youth conference. She co-organized the Mr. and Miss Cama-I cultural pageant. “One of the beauty’s within cultural pageants are that young men and women showcase and demonstrate their ability to perform cultural activities while serving as a role model for the younger generations.” Above is a video of Kelsey Wallace’s performance for the 2011 Miss WEIO Talent Show]</span></span></div><div class="p5"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p5"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Quote of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p1"><u><span class="s2"><i>“Don’t wait for something big to occur. Start where you are, with what you have, and that will always lead you into something greater.” </i></span><span class="s1">-Mary Manin Morrissey, New Thought Minister</span></u></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Song of the Week&nbsp;</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><u>Pretty Girl Rock - Keri Hilson&nbsp;</u></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/HtXOVKNazYU?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2" style="color: magenta;"><b>-Jacqui Lambert</b></span></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-6133957730670913172012-10-07T19:37:00.003-07:002012-10-08T18:38:49.288-07:00Race MonologuesThe leaders of my race monologues workshop asked us last week think about race in our everyday lives and bring a moment from our week to share with the group. Do you ever stop and think about how often race comes up in your daily life? When I stopped to think, I realized it happens quite frequently. Maybe it's just me, a white girl from a small native community, going to a very white college. The prompt for the week was to write about your family history. Here is my piece<br /><br />"Why are you here?"<br />asks big black/brown eyes<br />full moon frost bitten cheeks<br />hair down her back<br /><br />Les hommes francais!<br />fur economy exploitation<br />empty waters where sea cows once grazed<br /><br />a nomadic people making more and more rips into fur trading posts<br />I am a relic of colonialism<br /><br />Tifmiaqpak<br />you named my father eagle<br />the same as on the dollar bills<br />your children hand<br />to their cousin at the cash register<br />no nikipiaq Ahna!<br />black meat with seal oil, I want a snickers bar<br /><br />astounding faith<br />North to the Future<br />manifest destiny<br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>-Hannah Atkinson</b></span>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-27588012322533582952012-10-04T23:14:00.001-07:002012-10-08T18:39:28.416-07:00Men for MISS: Loving in the PatriarchyIn ch. 1 of "The Will to Change" bell hooks discusses pressures society puts on men in the form of Patriarchy. Patriarchy is <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-noshow:yes; color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style>--&gt; <span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Defined by the Blackwell Encyclopedia: “<span style="background: yellow;">Patriarchy</span>is most commonly understood as a form of social organization in which cultural and institutional beliefs and patterns accept, support, and reproduce the domination of women and younger men by older or more powerful men: Literally the “rule of the fathers.” (<a href="http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/uid=1010/tocnode?query=patriarchy&amp;widen=1&amp;result_number=1&amp;from=search&amp;id=g9781405124331_chunk_g978140512433122_ss1-10&amp;type=std&amp;fuzzy=0&amp;slop=1">http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/uid=1010/tocnode?query=patriarchy&amp;widen=1&amp;result_number=1&amp;from=search&amp;id=g9781405124331_chunk_g978140512433122_ss1-10&amp;type=std&amp;fuzzy=0&amp;slop=1</a>).</span><br /><style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style>--&gt; <br /><div class="MsoNormal">hooks relates the pressures of the patriarchy to men's ability to express emotions, specifically love. Because we live in a patriarchal society we have built up a notion of manhood that is related to the qualities of a strong leader/provider. She describes the patriarchal notion of manhood: strength, domination, even violence. All of these qualities can make for a great leader/provider but they also have effect of demoralizing the weakness and vulnerability that comes with feelings. In this way, hooks proposes that our society pressures men to hold back their love. Because men are pressured to hold back their love, women are frustrated, because they want that love more than anything.&nbsp; If the problem is lack of love, she proposes that more love, unconditional love, is the only answer:</div><div class="MsoNormal">"Only a revolution of values in our nation will end male violence, and that revolution will necessarily be based on a love ethic. To create loving men, we must love males. Loving maleness is different from praising and rewarding males for living up to sexist defined notions of male identity. Caring about men because of what they do for us is not the same as loving males for simply being. When we love maleness, we extend our love whether males are performing or not." (page 11)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">How do men and women love differently? How does this create tensions between the genders? </div><div class="MsoNormal">Do you think that the cultural pressures of men to be providers has created performance based love? How does one overcome performance based love?&nbsp; <span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>-Hannah Atkinson</b></span>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-18083154715721398902012-10-01T13:28:00.003-07:002012-10-08T18:39:52.454-07:00MISS Monday October 1, 2012 (Maija Lukin)<br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Woman of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><u>Maija Lukin, Kotzebue</u></i></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k-zXc_knl7U/UGn8vkwMmEI/AAAAAAAAAGs/ktvOeCESbYQ/s1600/DSC_0082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k-zXc_knl7U/UGn8vkwMmEI/AAAAAAAAAGs/ktvOeCESbYQ/s320/DSC_0082.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>This past summer, I spent an evening listening to Maija Katak Harris Lukin tell stories in a little confined area behind her house that is devoted to drying meat. There were strips of ugruk hanging above us, piled on the table in front of us, and even hanging on a recycled bunk bed frame. We were about to leave until we realized the door was locked from outside and there was no way out. Lukin had used my phone to call her husband, Dean Lukin, who was in the house at the time.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“Help!!!! There’s a fire and we can’t get... Oh” Lukin giggled and looked at us “He hung up! He must have believed..”</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Lukin’s voice was cut off as we heard the footsteps of her husband running towards us. He stopped in his tracks as soon as he realized we were completely safe and there was no fire. Lukin kinda giggled at her husband, knowing her humor was taken a little too seriously.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“What if there was really a fire though? At least we would have been safe, my husband made it back here in less than thirty seconds.” Lukin said.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>From the sounds of it, this is how the Lukin house is brought up. To finish the work that needs to be done but to have fun while you’re at it. Maija Katak Harris Lukin is a very active community member of Kotzebue that lives accordingly to the seasonal rotations. She gets involved in any event, she holds events to have something to do, and she hunts, fishes, cooks, and sews in the meantime.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>To really understand who she is, you need to hear the roots of her being. Her Finnish-American grandmother grew up in the 30’s and 40’s and raised her six kids in places like Turkey and Iran before making it to Anchorage and eventually making a home in Chickaloon. Her Inupiaq grandmother, Katak, grew up at Sisualik until they moved to Kotzebue for her husband to work.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“And my mother. My mom probably inspired me most of all. She grew up an Inupiaq girl, being punished for speaking Inupiaq. She grew up doing both ‘male’ and ‘female’ chores. She went hunting, chopped wood, picked berries, drove the boat. She ended up with three girls and raised us the same way. My mom has always worked hard and rarely gotten the attention for it. She volunteers for everything too. I probably get that from her. She was always busy, as am I.” Lukin says.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Lukin currently works with the Communications and Public Relations for the Maniilaq Association. She graduated from Kotzebue High School in 1995 where she participated in anything she could. She was raised on the belief that experiencing bigger things, like Washington DC, is always a good thing. Her mother was involved in everything so Lukin was the little kid who followed along and always had something to do. Along with volunteer work, Lukin was raised by the importance of her Inupiaq culture; she learned to shoot a gun, pick berries, igitchaq ducks, making paniqtuq, fillet fish, kavraq ugruk, play kick in the can, beat her cousins at run races, play Norwegian, hang beluga, and make qaugaq.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Today, Lukin raises a family of her own. Her family consists of herself and her husband along with four kids and two dogs. Her family grows up with her extended family as most of her cousins are still in Kotzebue too and have children of the same age. She makes it a point to raise her kids through the Inupiaq culture, but also to grow with the Western culture too.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“I hope that my children appreciate their cell phones as a way to connect with things we never thought possible, but still know to put them away when it’s time to hunt or berry pick or go to camp to relax.” Lukin says.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Lukin has been the coordinator of the Arctic Circle Spring Festival where she devotes a long weekend during the Kobuk 440 Sled Dog race to providing things for the community to do. She wants to give new and old residents time to go out to experience the beautiful Spring weather and have fun. She admits it’s hard work to coordinate, but the Inupiaq value of “sharing” is easily incorporated into her life and it feels great to share the piece of culture with everyone. Lukin spends a great amount of her time volunteering and does things that are fun and relaxing. She bakes and sews for people, hosts bake sales, teaches sewing classes, skin sewing, she coaches, reads, and works with the kids in attempt to to make the community a better place for the residents.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>While she believes it’s extremely important to be deeply rooted in the Inupiaq culture, Lukin believes the youth with no dependents should jump at an opportunity to experience an out-of-state education, at least for a little while. She had spent some time living in Orlando, Florida and later attended the Eastern Oregon University in La Grande with her cousin Josie. She encourages high school students to do as much as possible before being forced to become an adult after graduation. In order to help encourage this, Lukin has been an advisor to raise money for graduations and senior trips, she’s been a coach, a referee, and helped several students with scholarships and jobs.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Advice that Lukin carries with her is that she always has a choice.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“You have a choice to get up in the morning. You have a choice to be happy or mad. You can choose to let something keep you down, and you can choose not to. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but you’re ultimately responsible for all of your actions. Because, really, life is hard. But how you react to life situations is what people remember.” Lukin advises&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Lukin concentrates on being a good person who genuinely cares about other people above anything else. She believes that being an Inupiaq woman is not only hard right now, but it always has been in generations before us because you’re constantly pressured to be a good wife, mother, sister, Inupiaq, baker, seamstress and so on and so on. Being a good person and genuinely caring about others reflects being a good leader. Lukin encourages you to get involved in your community.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“When you put the effort into the kids of the community, and give them a sense of person, that they’re important, they grow up feeling good about themselves, and learning from you. Stop complaining about nothing to do and go do something about it!”&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Quote of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><u>“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform.”</u> </i></span><span class="s1"><b>-</b>Diane Mariechild, author of “Mother Wit and Inner Dance”</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Song of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><u>Sisters are Doin’ It For Themselves - Eurythmics&nbsp;</u></i></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/drGx7JkFSp4?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2" style="color: magenta;"><b>-Jacqui Lambert</b></span></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-24776984244008918852012-09-30T16:34:00.002-07:002012-10-08T18:40:07.043-07:00Race Monologues<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_987865267">htt</a><a href="p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNeB39l9fac">p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNeB39l9fac</a><br /><br />Lewis and Clark College holds a multi-cultural symposium ever year in which one event is especially catching. The Race Monologues gathers students from all over campus, people who I walk by everyday on my way to class, to tell their stories about race and how it has affected their lives. The last two years I have attended the Race Monologues I have laughed, cried, and related to students of all different colors, cultures, and upbringings. Every year I went I knew that I had a story just as powerful as them, I just wasn't sure how to tell it. I have always felt that I had something to share, and I think this year I finally have the words. Not only do I want to share it with all the members of my community in Portland, OR, I want to share it with the community that built me.<br /><br />Every Sunday I will be attending a writing workshop much like is shown in the linked video above. We write a piece and bring it to share and discuss with our peers. I will be posting my weekly piece every Sunday evening. I'll be posting the prompts they give me, so feel free to follow along and write a piece for yourself. On November 9th we will be preforming a longer piece at the symposium in a spoken word format. I will hopefully be able to video tape the performance and post it to the blog.<br /><br /><b>MISS aims to empower women through exploration of culture and identity. Here is the beginning of my journey. </b><br /><br />This first piece was written in response to the prompt: write a letter to someone or some institution with the things you wish you would have said to them/it. This is the little bit I got down on paper:<br /><br /><i>I had seen pictures of Alaska.&nbsp;</i><br /><i>Back in Washington angsty and 13, my family crowded around the desktop to see our soon to be home, creating a pixel deep understanding. Two years later when I met you, I was still looking at life like internet pictures. Laughing with you was like looking through old film slides. Holding this little arctic community up to the sun, you were the light shining through the film. A culture, a community,&nbsp; and a family, illuminated before my eyes.</i>&nbsp; <br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>-Hannah Atkinson</b></span>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-23278447857981043272012-09-27T23:09:00.001-07:002012-09-28T09:50:29.441-07:00Men for Miss<style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style>--&gt; <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here at school I get to work and know a lot of wonderful people. These people teach me so much, and in everything I learn I remember where I am from. I was inspired to write these pieces by my boss, and the Area Director (a professional who lives on campus and oversees the dorm life, insuring safety and wellbeing of residents): Logan Thurnauer. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">He expressed to me how strongly he feels that for rape culture, domestic violence, and sexual assault to end, we have to engage men. On another occasion he defined a term I had always heard but never understood. He said: “Being an ally means taking responsibility for something you may not have done, because it is an injustice.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>To me, in the case of men supporting women in the struggle against rape culture, this means not all people (men specifically may feel prosecuted) are guilty of causing harm to women. Rape culture, violence against women, sexual assault, these are all big things that as an individual one may not be responsible for. What a person can take responsibility for in being an ally is the fact that this happens, it is an injustice, and if you are a man you may have more power in this society to do something about it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Piecing these things together I realized that the way that men can be involved in this dialogue is by being an ally to women. Allies can support women through education and advocation. To understand the problem puts us in a better place to defeat it, and one voice can make a big difference.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">As a way to help me better understand the part men play in the social ills facing women I am reading<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>“The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love” by bell hooks. bell hooks is a woman who considers men to be a crucial part of the feminist movement for equality. It caught my eye when I saw Logan reading it, and he quickly loaned it to me. Each week I will be posting about a chapter of this book: the main ideas and a review of the concepts.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">bell hooks starts off her introduction saying: "The male bashing that was so intense when contemporary feminism first surfaced more than thirty years ago was in part the rageful cover-up of the shame women felt not because men refused to share their power but because we could not seduce, cajole, or entice men to share their emotions -- to love us." Does anything come to mind when you hear this quote? How does this quote highlight the difference between men and women? What do you think of feminism? I'd love for any responses submitted as a reply to this blog or emailed to us at missmovement907@gmail.com. Next Thursday we'll explore the introduction and first chapter and the concepts of patriarchy and male love.<br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>-Hannah Atkinson</b></span></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-90047571100530569332012-09-27T11:12:00.001-07:002012-09-28T09:11:31.658-07:00MISS's New Blog: missmovement.tumblr.com<style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style>--&gt; <br /><div class="MsoNormal">MISS is now running a blog on the site Tumblr. Please follow us if you have a tumblr or visit our site at missmovement.tumblr.com! Tumblr is a blogging site on which you can post writings, quotes, and pictures of your own or others (as long as properly cited) while also reblogging posts from fellow tumblr blogs. This makes for a very open forum for cultural expression as it accommodates a wide range of media. It is a place of a lot of political exchange and a place where I have found the strong voice of empowerment for women. It is where I first came across the concepts of rape culture, slut shaming, and the love your body movement which are gaining popularity in the realm of the world wide web.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Jacqui and I will continue to write pieces for our blogspot. We will at the same time post writings and pictures on Tumblr and incorporate empowering and educational media from people around the world.<br />Another very important feature of our Tumblr blog is the accessible submit link. We would love for our blogs to be more of a collaborative dialogue including all of you. Please feel free to submit to either of our blogs: through the submit link on Tumblr or by emailing us at missmovement907@gmail.com to contribute to our blogspot. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: orange;">-Hannah Atkinson</span></b></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-57370341939546669432012-09-24T17:20:00.000-07:002012-09-24T18:10:58.786-07:00MISS Monday September 24, 2012 (Stefanie Lozano)<br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Woman of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i>Stefanie Tuigan Lozano, Barrow</i></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZvXMVeyJMJc/UGD4G34Uq6I/AAAAAAAAAGc/mrZ2Qp7INWo/s1600/228628_195657343810816_5670947_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZvXMVeyJMJc/UGD4G34Uq6I/AAAAAAAAAGc/mrZ2Qp7INWo/s320/228628_195657343810816_5670947_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Stefanie Tuigan Lozano has a life goal of helping people in anyway she can, especially those in her home community. This year, she made changes in Barrow, Alaska specifically through purple and yellow ribbons of awareness. Last February, she and a few friends had gained awareness of child domestic violence through tying purple ribbons around town. Three months later, she took action and helped a mother find her missing child through online sources, yellow ribbons, and helping with the few different searching strategies.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>The purple ribbons were tied around town on car antennas, around street lights and stop signs with the following message attached: “Hope—in memory of the little child who did not make it and the smaller child who survived; the two children who could not speak for themselves.” This led to more help from the community to make more ribbons for jackets, backpacks, hoods, and caps. In addition, people were making baby t-shirts, hoodies, and other clothing. As a result from Lozano’s purple ribbon awareness, the North Slope Borough began “A Walk for Hope” which happens every so often.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>After hearing cries over the VHF last May, Lozano first took action for helping a mother find her child by announcing and asking for help on Facebook. She then made a Facebook page which helped collect approximately 200 volunteers across the state of Alaska begin the search. For 41 days in 16-hour increments, Lozano and the search team continuously gained awareness through ground and air searches, yellow ribbons tied around town, and stopping by houses.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“I still get thanked for my efforts but I couldn’t have done it without the people who pushed me to get the right answer and to speak for the ones who could not. I did this all to show the younger generation that by stepping up and filling the role of someone you thought you couldn’t be.” Lozano says. “It may be small or big, you have to always remember if you do the right thing, the younger generation will catch on and say someday they want to be just like you.”</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Aside from volunteering and serving as a board member for the Barrow Volunteer Search and Rescue, Lozano also works two jobs. She is an office specialist with the North Slope Borough Public Works, Shop II and is a Com Center Operator with the Umiaq. She controls the incoming calls and maintains safety from all locations of vessels, boats, and sea activity in the Barrow area. Lozano also achieved many Accounting and Business Management certificates. She graduated from Barrow High School in 2003 and has since then attended Ilisagvik College and Charter College.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Lozano is a half Inupiaq, half Mexican who was born and raised in Barrow. She is the daughter of Marcy Patkotak and Bob Lozano. Her grandparents are Simeon Nasuk, late Susan Ahkivgak-Patkotak along with late pete and Isabel Lozano. She is the oldest of five siblings and the aunt of three. Lozano has recently been deeply affected by one of rural Alaska’s biggest battles. She has lost multiple close relatives this year but chooses to keep her head up.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“That week has been the hardest of all my times but after it all calmed down, I have chosen to stand stronger than before. Even though you go through such hardships, you can be strong in everything you do, if not stronger than you were before.” Lozano advises.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Lozano mentions that her home community constantly inspires her to push towards her goals by helping, encouraging, and always standing by her. She also mentions her Aatataa (great uncle) and Aaka (grandma) as the biggest influences in her life. She listens to their advice in her everyday duties. Malik Ahkivgak and Susan Ahkivgak Patkotak would tell her to never give up and to always pray.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“If you pray with your heart, see it with your heart, and hear it with your ears, you will eventually get what you have been asking for.” They would tell her.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Lozano was the first woman to be nominated for the woman of the week. Janelle Schaeffer of Kotzebue e-mailed us to give a brief review of Lozano. She told us the short stories of Lozano’s efforts to helping the community and shares that she loves every aspect of her native culture, sets a great example for her young peers, and has played part in six different whaling crews.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“There’s so many great qualities about her, it’s hard to remember them all” Schaeffer stated in the e-mail.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Quote of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i>“You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream; you’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.” </i></span><span class="s1">-Diana Ross, American singer and actress&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Song of the Week</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i>Firework - Katy Perry</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QGJuMBdaqIw?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: magenta;">-Jacqui Lambert</span></div><div class="p1"><br /></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-82213755708205191072012-09-11T00:00:00.002-07:002012-09-24T18:09:23.591-07:00MISS Monday September 10, 2012 (Kathy Ward)<b>MISS Woman of the Week</b><br /><i><u>Kathy Ward, Kotzebue</u></i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZLZK9439fY/UE7glNhQozI/AAAAAAAAAGM/3TSuYcp6mRw/s1600/387430_271173946271561_2131536651_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZLZK9439fY/UE7glNhQozI/AAAAAAAAAGM/3TSuYcp6mRw/s200/387430_271173946271561_2131536651_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w8ejOoLL-GM/UE7gjtuq70I/AAAAAAAAAGE/GNpQxdzwaF8/s1600/421693_401842239871397_1218809063_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w8ejOoLL-GM/UE7gjtuq70I/AAAAAAAAAGE/GNpQxdzwaF8/s200/421693_401842239871397_1218809063_n.jpg" width="200" /></a>Being a kid who regularly performed Eskimo dances at the old NANA Museum, I had the occasional encounters with Kathleen Ann “Apauraq” Ward, normally known as Kathy. I remember her being one of the adults who would consistently remind me that I am a unique individual and I should project that through my performances. She would encourage my peers and I to loosen up while dancing and show that we are proud to be sharing a part of our culture with the tourists.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><br /><br />Ward is the granddaughter of Edward and Lorretta Ward and was born in Nome, Alaska. She has lived in Barrow, Point Hope, and Atqasuk but considers Kotzebue to be her home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>While she was in school, she was a part of the Future Homemakers of America and the Northern Lights Dancers. The NANA Museum employed Ward as a curator for many years. Here, she worked with young people to teach them how to Eskimo dance along with speak in public and how to sew. <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><br /><br />Ever since she was a young girl, Ward had an artistic twist to her personality. In school, she won art contests, beauty pageants, and talent shows that awarded her with scholarships. She can do anything from skin sewing, to beading, to making dolls, and to singing. <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><br /><br />Many women around the region had influenced Ward to achieve the things she has today. Her grandmother, Ada Ward, was a surgical nurse, owner of a baking business, and a reindeer herder before Alaska gained statehood. She mentions Sally Gallahorn from Rotman’s Store as one of the foundational supporters of her skin sewing by giving her some of her first furs. Terry Walker was also a supporter who encouraged Ward to publicly sing when she was 12 years old. Walker is now the principal at the Buckland schools.<br />“If I hadn’t seen her do that, I may not have done a lot of things,” Ward explains. <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><br /><br />She was inspired to begin making dolls from Ethel Washington who had her dolls displayed at the NANA Museum. Washington had passed before Ward was born but taught her doll sewing skills through a book she had written. When the Northwest Arctic Borough had public meetings about closing the Chukchi Consortium Library, Ward spoke up about this specific experience. Through studying Washington’s book that was available at the local library, Ward was able to improve her sewing skills with dolls.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><br /><br />Today, a few of Ward’s creations are put on display in public places. She has made thousands of Eskimo dolls and at least 10 traditional fur parkas. One of these fur parkas is displayed in the Anchorage Museum and one of her dolls in the White House. Ward has also been written about in the Smithsonian Learning Magazine. <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>“I don’t take myself too seriously. I laugh all the time.” Ward says.<br /><br /><b>MISS Quote of the Week</b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i style="text-decoration: underline;">There is an inner beauty about a woman who believes in herself; who knows she’s capable of anything she puts her mind to. There is a beauty in the strength and determination of a woman that follows her own path, who isn’t thrown off&nbsp;by obstacles along the way. There is beauty about a woman whose confidence comes from experiences; who knows she can fall, pick herself up and move on.</i></span></span>&nbsp;</b>-Anonymous<br /><b><br /></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">MISS Song of the Week</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><u style="font-style: italic;">Girl On Fire (Inferno Version) </u></span>-Alicia Keys and Nicki Minaj&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dwaCaaqfIK4?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><b>-Jacqui Lambert</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i><u><br /></u></i></span></span></div><!--EndFragment-->MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-1096267401935600612012-09-03T16:46:00.003-07:002012-09-24T18:09:33.820-07:00MISS Monday September 3, 2012 (Katie Mack)<br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Woman of the Week:</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i>Katie Mack&nbsp;</i></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G5IAONjkTms/UEVArsQiIKI/AAAAAAAAAEA/fk-RfYfj3rY/s1600/482108_4356046060244_1274394773_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G5IAONjkTms/UEVArsQiIKI/AAAAAAAAAEA/fk-RfYfj3rY/s320/482108_4356046060244_1274394773_n.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6RFrgLM4qXI/UEVAsj89BkI/AAAAAAAAAEI/vLdlQDjcpJI/s1600/534876_3598177512912_1141385773_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6RFrgLM4qXI/UEVAsj89BkI/AAAAAAAAAEI/vLdlQDjcpJI/s320/534876_3598177512912_1141385773_n.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>A woman named Katie Mack embraced Kotzebue for the summer after she graduated college. The east coast native came to town as an intern for the National Park Service but was interested in learning about the rich Inupiaq culture more than anything else. She flew approximately three thousand miles across the country in search of “real Alaska” and in return found that this might be the place for her.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>After graduating from Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire with a degree in History, Society, and Culture, Mack didn’t exactly know what her next big dream will be. She dedicated the summer to jumping at opportunities and left with the experiences of caribou hunting, camping, learning to Eskimo dance, using common Inupiaq words, and listening in to the stories of the locals. She spent the majority of the summer making it a point to have a connection with everyone around town.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“The job I came here for was important to me, sure, but what was really important to me was making friends with people from Kotzebue. To really understand what this places means to the people from here and to understand what it means to me.” Mack says as I asked her who in Kotzebue has made her feel differently. “Everyone I met shaped my view, from the people walking around town, to the carpenters, to the clerks at AC, to the people working at the park service and most importantly my friends I met here.”&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>This summer, Mack has learned about diversity in terms of experience and background. Between all the people she has met and gotten to know, she realized that you can never assume anything about anyone until you talk and ask them. A summer in Kotzebue has taught Mack the importance of generosity, acceptance, family roles, appreciation, and the “arrigaa” feeling. Before leaving town, she realized that the people she met and the experiences she’s had make her want to come back for something more.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“It came to me one day that there could be a really incredible ‘soul sports’ facility,” Mack says. She envisions a place where she can be an outdoors instructor where she teaches snowboarding, skiing, kayaking, hunting, and camping. Anything that has to do with getting the people to go out and enjoy the country in the region. Mack noticed that there’s not a lot of things going on to keep the kids and teenagers out of trouble and would like to make a difference in that area. Mack has been a snowboarding instructor for eight years in New Hampshire.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“I thought it would be cool to have a non profit organization like that in town - give people a cool job, something to do, a positive outlet for their energy, something that makes people proud of themselves and builds tight bonds.”&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Katie Mack has left the town of Kotzebue carrying this big dream in her head and the intentions of coming back to make it happen. She has been inspired to look into the master’s program at Alaska Pacific University in Outdoor and Environmental Education where she can learn things like Sea Kayaking, Dog Mushing, Snow and Avalanche Science, and Wildland Ecosystems amongst other things. Mack has also mentioned trying to partner up with Whaleback Mountain in New Hampshire for a possible exchanging program to give the experience of seeing new places to people in both areas.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“Even if I couldn’t do it, I’d definitely still come back to visit people and be here again. Kotzebue stole my heart and I didn’t even see it coming!” Katie Mack mentions.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Little things to love about rural Alaska by Katie Mack:</span></div><ul><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">The people who know how to be passionate about the needs in Northwest Alaska.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">The people who are always down for an adventure.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">The people who know how to “just be” without saying much but smiling a lot.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">The incredible generosity people hold.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">The people who share countless stories about hunting, snow machine races, and friends.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Camping on the Noatak River.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Learning about a family that raises sled dogs.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Caribou hunting while sharing songs and stories of shamans of the Inupiaq culture.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">The culture camp Sivunnigvik that is a native based organization.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">People of all age hang out together and understand each other more across generations.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Men that see themselves as a part of a family and understand they have a role to hold (“This is a rare thing to happen where I’m from” Mack says)&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">People who love to express being proud to share their culture and town with an outsider.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Stores are open late at night.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Openness of the land and sea and the big sky.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">When the days get really long every hour of the day gets stretched and the sunsets last so long.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">When the street lights come on after a long summer of daylight.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">The fog in the tundra hills.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Being more aware of the weather, plants, and animals and what they are doing.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Being on a boat.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Being friends with the pizza guys from Otto’s.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Watching Caribou.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Hanging with friends trying to figure out what to do.&nbsp;</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Four wheeling on New Road.</span></li><li class="li1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1">Listening to people’s stories.&nbsp;</span></li></ul><div class="p2" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Quote of the Week:</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><u>“Instead of looking at life as a narrowing funnel, we can see it ever widening to choose the things we want to do, to take the wisdom we’ve learned and create something.”</u> </i></span><span class="s1">-Liz Carpenter, Writer and Feminist&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>MISS Song of the Week:</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"><i><u>Video - India Arie</u></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mq86e4Fhja0?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="p1"><b><span style="color: magenta;">--Jacqui Lambert</span></b></div>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062433684202711647.post-12664619871891482182012-08-30T10:21:00.002-07:002012-09-03T18:16:13.675-07:00Airplane Reading Takes Me Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zgRN_sY9moA/UD-cGyj0OnI/AAAAAAAAADo/OnTkB1gb2Hs/s1600/Scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zgRN_sY9moA/UD-cGyj0OnI/AAAAAAAAADo/OnTkB1gb2Hs/s640/Scan.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iwdUEZTu2tg/UD-b_d1SJmI/AAAAAAAAACg/5CAhv6Yr0mw/s1600/Scan+1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iwdUEZTu2tg/UD-b_d1SJmI/AAAAAAAAACg/5CAhv6Yr0mw/s640/Scan+1.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IIhtEDoy0wc/UD-cAKatoKI/AAAAAAAAACo/oUQ6TPeNE64/s1600/Scan+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IIhtEDoy0wc/UD-cAKatoKI/AAAAAAAAACo/oUQ6TPeNE64/s640/Scan+2.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5gNeYrnOC7I/UD-cBMnjsmI/AAAAAAAAACw/w9GEvCZBdng/s1600/Scan+3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5gNeYrnOC7I/UD-cBMnjsmI/AAAAAAAAACw/w9GEvCZBdng/s640/Scan+3.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dxa68Fb3Hg8/UD-cB_pKizI/AAAAAAAAAC4/O4pKE1yuXso/s1600/Scan+4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dxa68Fb3Hg8/UD-cB_pKizI/AAAAAAAAAC4/O4pKE1yuXso/s640/Scan+4.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AHrsPeFACjg/UD-cCt_54iI/AAAAAAAAADA/CUK3y7PfgSM/s1600/Scan+5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AHrsPeFACjg/UD-cCt_54iI/AAAAAAAAADA/CUK3y7PfgSM/s640/Scan+5.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P2akkfF592c/UD-cDVXzVMI/AAAAAAAAADI/IJIkKf80Isw/s1600/Scan+6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P2akkfF592c/UD-cDVXzVMI/AAAAAAAAADI/IJIkKf80Isw/s640/Scan+6.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5TzDJJ_I_EE/UD-cEQUJg1I/AAAAAAAAADQ/wT-r8D4czGc/s1600/Scan+7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5TzDJJ_I_EE/UD-cEQUJg1I/AAAAAAAAADQ/wT-r8D4czGc/s640/Scan+7.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x2_emjjjFeI/UD-cFWE53JI/AAAAAAAAADY/KbfjKqxu2vI/s1600/Scan+8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x2_emjjjFeI/UD-cFWE53JI/AAAAAAAAADY/KbfjKqxu2vI/s640/Scan+8.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OmSizaqtIZA/UD-cGDiX4PI/AAAAAAAAADg/oeMqb-A4WLE/s1600/Scan+9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OmSizaqtIZA/UD-cGDiX4PI/AAAAAAAAADg/oeMqb-A4WLE/s640/Scan+9.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />Leaving Kotzebue after this summer was harder than ever. On my way to Portland I read an article in the Alaska Airlines magazine, and thought I'd share it. Its a pretty good piece, highlighting a lot of individuals who are getting creative and working hard to keep native languages spoken. I loved the story of Ayaprun Loddie Jones in Bethel, AK.<br /><b><span style="color: orange;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: orange;">-- Hannah Atkinson </span></b>MISShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804523572880148978noreply@blogger.com1